Sherman J. Glass, Senior Vice President of ExxonMobil Chemical, said that in the coming decades, global chemical demand will grow at a rate 2% higher than global GDP, and developing countries Market growth will be faster. By 2050, Asia will account for 60% of global chemical demand growth, and China alone will account for 40%.
He believes that by 2030, the global population will increase by 30%. In the same period, the global economy will double in size, reaching 75 trillion US dollars/year. The rapid growth in energy demand will continue to be mainly met by fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal. The contribution of renewable energy to energy will increase rapidly, but it will still only represent a small part of the overall energy supply. At present, biofuels, wind energy and solar energy account for only 0.5% of the world's energy demand. It is expected that by 2030, although this proportion will increase, it will still only account for 2%.
Sherman J. Grasse further pointed out that in the face of ensuring reliable supply of raw materials and reducing the impact on the environment, petrochemical companies must be prepared as early as possible, and technological progress is a good way to deal with this challenge.
Graeme Sweeney, Shell's executive vice president of Fuels and CO2 Business, also said at the conference that the impact of climate change on the environment has become a global issue and a major challenge for the industry. In response to the challenges of energy applicability and global climate change, industry, regulators and other relevant organizations must cooperate more effectively.
The world is now facing three substantive issues. First, the global demand for energy is growing, and the demand for oil and natural gas will greatly increase. Second, the availability of readily available oil is increasingly difficult to meet the needs of energy demand growth. Third, the increase in energy use means that CO2 emissions will increase, and global warming will become an issue that the industry must pay attention to.
Raw materials environment pressure on both sides of the petrochemical industry
Foreign industry calls for strengthening technological innovation to meet the challenges At present, all countries in the world are facing the growing demand for energy and petrochemical products brought about by the global economic development. While meeting this increase, petrochemical producers must also face the impact of energy and raw materials. Constraints and GHG emissions must be severely reduced. To this end, the American Petroleum and Petrochemicals and Petroleum Refining Association (NPRA) shouted at the 33rd International Petroleum and Chemical Conference held at the end of March 2008 that global petrochemical producers must strengthen technological innovation to meet the challenges.